12-16-2018, 11:47 PM
*** 17-Dec-18 World View -- North Korea threatens US with 'exchanges of fire' over new human rights sanctions
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** US issues new sanctions on North Korea over human rights abuses
****
![[Image: g181216b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g181216b.jpg)
Japanese surveillance aircraft spots a Dominican-flagged Yuk Tung oil tanker after it transferred fuel to the North Korean-registered Rye Song tanker in the open South China Sea, in violation of sanctions. (AP)
On Monday, the Trump administration announced new sanctions against
three senior North Korean officials for for human rights abuses and
censorship in the country. The new sanctions were in honor of the
Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old American college student who died
after being released from North Korean custody in June 2017.
According to Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin:
<QUOTE>"Treasury is sanctioning senior North Korean officials
who direct departments that perpetrate the regime’s brutal
state-sponsored censorship activities, human rights violations and
abuses, and other abuses in order to suppress and control the
population. These sanctions demonstrate the United States’
ongoing support for freedom of expression, and opposition to
endemic censorship and human rights abuses. The United States has
consistently condemned the North Korean regime for its flagrant
and egregious abuses of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and
this Administration will continue to take action against human
rights abusers around the globe."<END QUOTE>
The sanctions are for human rights abuses by North Korean
organizations that "conduct warrantless searches for unapproved
foreign media or content, inspect and confiscate computer content,
including external storage devices, and even kidnap defectors or
foreign citizens who support human rights in North Korea."
ABC News and US Treasury
****
**** North Korea threatens retaliation for the sanctions
****
North Korea on Sunday harshly condemned the U.S. administration for
stepping up sanctions and pressure. and warned of a return to
“exchanges of fire” and that the denuclearization process could be
blocked forever.
According to the North Korean statement, published by the North Korean
news service KCNA:
<QUOTE>"Now, the international society is unanimous in
welcoming the proactive denuclearization steps taken by the DPRK
[North Korea] and urging the U.S. to respond to these steps in a
corresponding manner. And president Trump avails himself of every
possible occasion to state his willingness to improve
DPRK-U.S. relations.
Far from the statements of the president, the State Department is
instead bent on bringing the DPRK-U.S. relations back to the
status of last year which was marked by exchanges of fire. I
cannot help but throw doubt on the ulterior motive of the State
Department.
If they are a sort of diplomats of "only superpower", they should
at least realize from the past record of the DPRK-U.S. relations
that sanctions and pressure would not work against the DPRK.
The United States will not be unaware of the self-evident fact
that its threat, blackmail and pressure against the other side
cannot be a solution under the relations of pent-up confrontation,
mistrust and hostility between the DPRK and the U.S. and
deterioration of the situation that might be incurred by these
hostile actions would not be beneficial for peace and security of
the Korean peninsula and beyond.
Since we know too well that the deep-rooted hostility between the
DPRK and the U.S. cannot be redressed overnight, we have been
proposing that the DPRK-U.S. relations be improved on a
step-by-step approach of resolving what is feasible one by one, by
giving priority to confidence building.
If the high-ranking politicians within the U.S. administration
including the State Department had calculated that they could
drive us into giving up nuclear weapons by way of increasing the
anti-DPRK sanctions and pressure and human rights racket to an
unprecedented level, which has nothing to do with confidence
building, it will count as greatest miscalculation, and it will
block the path to denuclearization on the Korean peninsula forever
- a result desired by no one.
The U.S. should realize before it is too late that "maximum
pressure" would not work against us and take a sincere approach to
implementing the Singapore DPRK-U.S. Joint
Statement."<END QUOTE>
North Korea gave this statement a great deal of publicity, and so they
wanted it to be noticed. And indeed, the international networks all
carried it prominently.
An interesting thing about the statement is that it blames the State
Dept., and praises president Trump. This is part of the game and the
"charm offensive" that's been going on. This way, the North Koreans
can threaten the United States, but encourage Trump to make more
concessions.
The statement refers to "the proactive denuclearization steps taken by
the DPRK." Actually, there have been no such steps that aren't easily
reversible. The one big "step" was blowing up the Punggye-ri nuclear
test site, but recent satellite imagery indicates that the site is
still usable, and that several dozen personnel are still working
there.
The one major step that the US has requested was a list of all of
North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles development
sites, but North Korea has refused to provide this list.
The US has also taken a reversible "proactive step" -- namely
canceling all joint military drills with the South Koreans. However,
since no progress was being made down the denuclearization path, the
US and South Korea resumed some military drills last month.
As I've been saying since the start of the year, when North Korea's
"charm offensive" began, the North Koreans have absolutely no
intention of denuclearizing. President Trump has been saying that
he's in no hurry to conclude a deal, knowing that the sanctions remain
on North Korea, and hoping that the sanctions might pressure them to
agree to denuclearization. However, as the KCNA statement says, "The
U.S. should realize before it is too late that "maximum pressure"
would not work against us."
It's worth pointing out that North Korea has been evading sanctions by
transferring oil at sea, despite active surveillance and enforcement
by an eight-nation coalition, including Australia, Britain, Canada,
France, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, deploying warships and
aircraft to better spot sanctions violations.
As before, it's pretty clear to everyone (except the news media and
the general public) that the charm offensive was all a show -- that
North Korea would never denuclearize, and that Trump would never agree
to reduce the sanctions. But all sides kept it up because it solve
their immediate political problems by "kicking the can down the road"
-- that is, masking and hiding problems and postponing them until
later.
In the meantime, North Korea now has completed a year more nuclear and
missile development than it had as of a year ago, with the only
restriction that they haven't been able to publicly test their latest
weapons. It remains to be seen how long this can go on. Reuters and KCNA and Chosun Ilbo (Seoul) and NBC News
Related Articles:
****
**** Japan-Korea relations worsen over 'comfort women' issue
****
The question of Korean "comfort women" used by Japanese
soldiers during World War II is reaching a boiling point again.
On October 30, South Korea's supreme court awarded compensation to
four Korean citizens forced to work for the Japanese during World War
II. The Japanese claim that all such awards were already paid in a
settlement concluded in a 1965 treaty.
This has opened up the "comfort women" issue again. In 2015, Japan
and Korean concluded a bilateral agrfeement which was intended at the
time as the “final and irreversible” resolution of the comfort women
issue. However, South Korea is now saying that demands from the
victims is causing the agreement to "wither."
I have witnessed an extremely vitriolic disagreement between
two people who, fortunately, were disagreeing online and were
not in the same room. The disagreement stems from a
1944 US Army report, based on interrogation of "20 Korean
Comfort Girls," which indicates that the girls volunteered for
these roles, and they were well-treated by the Japanese soldiers.
This issue is certain to be raised again.
Japan Today and Diplomat and US Army report (1-Oct-1944)
Related Articles:
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, North Korea, Kim Jong-un,
South Korea, Moon Jae-in, Mike Pompeo,
Otto Warmbier, Steven T. Mnuchin
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- US issues new sanctions on North Korea over human rights abuses
- North Korea threatens retaliation for the sanctions
- Japan-Korea relations worsen over 'comfort women' issue
****
**** US issues new sanctions on North Korea over human rights abuses
****
Japanese surveillance aircraft spots a Dominican-flagged Yuk Tung oil tanker after it transferred fuel to the North Korean-registered Rye Song tanker in the open South China Sea, in violation of sanctions. (AP)
On Monday, the Trump administration announced new sanctions against
three senior North Korean officials for for human rights abuses and
censorship in the country. The new sanctions were in honor of the
Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old American college student who died
after being released from North Korean custody in June 2017.
According to Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin:
<QUOTE>"Treasury is sanctioning senior North Korean officials
who direct departments that perpetrate the regime’s brutal
state-sponsored censorship activities, human rights violations and
abuses, and other abuses in order to suppress and control the
population. These sanctions demonstrate the United States’
ongoing support for freedom of expression, and opposition to
endemic censorship and human rights abuses. The United States has
consistently condemned the North Korean regime for its flagrant
and egregious abuses of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and
this Administration will continue to take action against human
rights abusers around the globe."<END QUOTE>
The sanctions are for human rights abuses by North Korean
organizations that "conduct warrantless searches for unapproved
foreign media or content, inspect and confiscate computer content,
including external storage devices, and even kidnap defectors or
foreign citizens who support human rights in North Korea."
ABC News and US Treasury
****
**** North Korea threatens retaliation for the sanctions
****
North Korea on Sunday harshly condemned the U.S. administration for
stepping up sanctions and pressure. and warned of a return to
“exchanges of fire” and that the denuclearization process could be
blocked forever.
According to the North Korean statement, published by the North Korean
news service KCNA:
<QUOTE>"Now, the international society is unanimous in
welcoming the proactive denuclearization steps taken by the DPRK
[North Korea] and urging the U.S. to respond to these steps in a
corresponding manner. And president Trump avails himself of every
possible occasion to state his willingness to improve
DPRK-U.S. relations.
Far from the statements of the president, the State Department is
instead bent on bringing the DPRK-U.S. relations back to the
status of last year which was marked by exchanges of fire. I
cannot help but throw doubt on the ulterior motive of the State
Department.
If they are a sort of diplomats of "only superpower", they should
at least realize from the past record of the DPRK-U.S. relations
that sanctions and pressure would not work against the DPRK.
The United States will not be unaware of the self-evident fact
that its threat, blackmail and pressure against the other side
cannot be a solution under the relations of pent-up confrontation,
mistrust and hostility between the DPRK and the U.S. and
deterioration of the situation that might be incurred by these
hostile actions would not be beneficial for peace and security of
the Korean peninsula and beyond.
Since we know too well that the deep-rooted hostility between the
DPRK and the U.S. cannot be redressed overnight, we have been
proposing that the DPRK-U.S. relations be improved on a
step-by-step approach of resolving what is feasible one by one, by
giving priority to confidence building.
If the high-ranking politicians within the U.S. administration
including the State Department had calculated that they could
drive us into giving up nuclear weapons by way of increasing the
anti-DPRK sanctions and pressure and human rights racket to an
unprecedented level, which has nothing to do with confidence
building, it will count as greatest miscalculation, and it will
block the path to denuclearization on the Korean peninsula forever
- a result desired by no one.
The U.S. should realize before it is too late that "maximum
pressure" would not work against us and take a sincere approach to
implementing the Singapore DPRK-U.S. Joint
Statement."<END QUOTE>
North Korea gave this statement a great deal of publicity, and so they
wanted it to be noticed. And indeed, the international networks all
carried it prominently.
An interesting thing about the statement is that it blames the State
Dept., and praises president Trump. This is part of the game and the
"charm offensive" that's been going on. This way, the North Koreans
can threaten the United States, but encourage Trump to make more
concessions.
The statement refers to "the proactive denuclearization steps taken by
the DPRK." Actually, there have been no such steps that aren't easily
reversible. The one big "step" was blowing up the Punggye-ri nuclear
test site, but recent satellite imagery indicates that the site is
still usable, and that several dozen personnel are still working
there.
The one major step that the US has requested was a list of all of
North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles development
sites, but North Korea has refused to provide this list.
The US has also taken a reversible "proactive step" -- namely
canceling all joint military drills with the South Koreans. However,
since no progress was being made down the denuclearization path, the
US and South Korea resumed some military drills last month.
As I've been saying since the start of the year, when North Korea's
"charm offensive" began, the North Koreans have absolutely no
intention of denuclearizing. President Trump has been saying that
he's in no hurry to conclude a deal, knowing that the sanctions remain
on North Korea, and hoping that the sanctions might pressure them to
agree to denuclearization. However, as the KCNA statement says, "The
U.S. should realize before it is too late that "maximum pressure"
would not work against us."
It's worth pointing out that North Korea has been evading sanctions by
transferring oil at sea, despite active surveillance and enforcement
by an eight-nation coalition, including Australia, Britain, Canada,
France, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, deploying warships and
aircraft to better spot sanctions violations.
As before, it's pretty clear to everyone (except the news media and
the general public) that the charm offensive was all a show -- that
North Korea would never denuclearize, and that Trump would never agree
to reduce the sanctions. But all sides kept it up because it solve
their immediate political problems by "kicking the can down the road"
-- that is, masking and hiding problems and postponing them until
later.
In the meantime, North Korea now has completed a year more nuclear and
missile development than it had as of a year ago, with the only
restriction that they haven't been able to publicly test their latest
weapons. It remains to be seen how long this can go on. Reuters and KCNA and Chosun Ilbo (Seoul) and NBC News
Related Articles:
- North Korea 'Charm Offensive' appears to have run its course (17-Nov-2018)
- North Korea plays hardball to get sanctions lifted (12-Nov-2018)
- US and South Korea resume some military marine drills, despite North's objections (05-Nov-2018)
- US imposes new North Korea sanctions on Chinese and Russian shipping companies (17-Aug-2018)
- NY Times publishes a generational analysis of South Korea (30-Jan-2018)
****
**** Japan-Korea relations worsen over 'comfort women' issue
****
The question of Korean "comfort women" used by Japanese
soldiers during World War II is reaching a boiling point again.
On October 30, South Korea's supreme court awarded compensation to
four Korean citizens forced to work for the Japanese during World War
II. The Japanese claim that all such awards were already paid in a
settlement concluded in a 1965 treaty.
This has opened up the "comfort women" issue again. In 2015, Japan
and Korean concluded a bilateral agrfeement which was intended at the
time as the “final and irreversible” resolution of the comfort women
issue. However, South Korea is now saying that demands from the
victims is causing the agreement to "wither."
I have witnessed an extremely vitriolic disagreement between
two people who, fortunately, were disagreeing online and were
not in the same room. The disagreement stems from a
1944 US Army report, based on interrogation of "20 Korean
Comfort Girls," which indicates that the girls volunteered for
these roles, and they were well-treated by the Japanese soldiers.
This issue is certain to be raised again.
Japan Today and Diplomat and US Army report (1-Oct-1944)
Related Articles:
- China funds unauthorized anti-Japan comfort woman statue in Manila, Philippines (28-Dec-2017)
- Japan and China in confrontation over comfort women (07-Mar-2007)
- China and Japan really DO hate each other (30-Aug-2013)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, North Korea, Kim Jong-un,
South Korea, Moon Jae-in, Mike Pompeo,
Otto Warmbier, Steven T. Mnuchin
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
